Analysis Of Solar Photovoltaic-Battery System For Off-Grid Dc Load Application

Objective Applications of the sensors are inevitable for measurement and data monitoring in any systems under operation. Powering the sensors in remote working conditions is a challenging issue especially where conventional way of electrification such as main grid is inaccessible or unavailable. Renewable power source such as photovoltaic could be an economical, clean and effective solution to meet the sensors load demand in remote operating conditions. A sensor load for measuring the quality and depth of water in the Yamuna River, Delhi, India is considered. However, energy storage is another important aspect in such type of renewable load application due to intermittency involved with generation. Present study gives a feasibility analysis of solar photovoltaic-battery system for the remote sensor load application.Method Two configurations of photovoltaic-battery storage system are considered for selecting the best possible configuration based on techno-economic. HOMER simulation tool is used for the cost and sizing optimization of photovoltaic-battery system. On the basis of sizing evaluation, a MATLAB simulation study is also performed for integration of photovoltaic generator, battery and sensor loads.Result On the basis of sizing evaluation photovoltaic and lead-acid battery capacity is found to be 194 Wp and 2 kWh, respectively. However, better charging/discharging characteristics of lithium-ion battery leads to lower required capacity for photovoltaic generator approximate to 120 Wp. Therefore, photovoltaic-lithium ion battery is most appropriate option considering the sizing of generator and storage medium.Conclusion A comparative study between the photovoltaic with two energy storage mediums i.e. lead-acid and lithium-ion was performed on the basis of yearly performance and economics. Lithium-ion battery shows superior performance over lead-acid battery considering its better charging and discharging characteristics. The sizing of the photovoltaic generator was found lower with lithium-ion configuration compared to the lead-acid battery.